1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved electrical contact having portions thereof plated by inlaid metal to enhance the physical and electrical characteristics thereof and in particular to an electrical contact formed from flat sheet metal stock having portions of inlaid diverse metals therein.
2. The Prior Art
It is well known in the electrical connector industry that the characteristics of an electrical contact can be selectively improved by having at least a portion of the contact formed from a metal of a particular electrical and/or physical characteristic. For example, it has been well known that the electrical and wear characteristics of contacts can be improved by plating the formed contact with a gold or a gold alloy. However, because of the increased price of gold, plating is not always an acceptable method of achieving this result since the plating bath deposits the gold on areas of the contact which never require the additional gold and it will be of no use. Further, there are many expenses associated with chemical processing of electrical contacts, including hidden expenses of environmental control of waste baths, that may be too expensive for some contacts.
It is also known to place solder on various portions of contacts so that they can be subjected to a solder reflow operation after having been mounted in a printed circuit board or the like. This is taught, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,780,433; 3,905,665; and 3,915,546.
It is further known that the flow of solder on a contact can be controlled by appropriately defined areas of solder resist material, such as aluminum, stainless steel or glass, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,686,625; 3,786,172; and 3,887,760, respectively.